


Restart

by Angelology



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Hybrid AU, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-08
Updated: 2015-03-08
Packaged: 2018-03-16 22:50:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3505685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angelology/pseuds/Angelology
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt by InconspicuousDuck: What if, Gavin was a rare form of bird hybrid, like he was part endangered species or something, and so scientist people are always after him and the boys are always happy to protect him and stuff.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Restart

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry it's been so long! Hope you guys enjoy this :)  
> Edit: guess who neglects to proofread their work before poooosting. Slowly getting through the silly notes I left in. Kids, don't post your works at a stupid hour in the morning without proofreading.

When they lose contact with Burnie, they know they're in trouble.

They pack up quickly. They never really have their bags completely unpacked - but there's more clothes thrown about, more feathers and hair lying around than what they'd ever usually allow. They've gotten sloppy, deluded by the idea that maybe they were safe, that maybe they wouldn't be found.

They're paying for that idea now. Of course they're not safe, they're never safe because these damn bastards after Gavin just won't leave him alone. But of course, neither will the five others.

Gavin has tried so many times to convince them to leave him, to stop trying to protect him - because it was useless, wasn't it? Even with contacts like Burnie or Matt or Gus, he was bound to be found eventually. Lark Hybrids had a high price on their heads, one of the highest, and quickly rising as more and more of them were found.

Taken where, they could only theorise. Burnie has been trying for months now to figure it out, starting immediately as soon as Gavin was placed on the 'possibly endangered' list. But no matter how many contacts he asks, they just can't find it out.

There's whispers - as there always are - that they're taken to a facility that works on rehabilitating the rare species, which is what the media presents. Others say they're used as lab rats to find out explanations. To what, they're still not sure. The worst whisper, though, has to be that they're taken away to be slaughtered. Hybrids, coming into the world a few years ago from some sort of virus that no one could explain, have still not exactly been welcomed into society, and it's quite a plausible theory: many have very publicly voiced their hatred, and not many have tried to stop them.

Either way, those taken are never heard from again.

They had become a unit of six before Gavin was actually placed on the endangered list. It was only a few months they were together officially - it took months before that for them to try and figure out where exactly they could fit in the puzzle.

All of them had met through Burnie. He created an organisation for the safety of Hybrids - from everything to finding safe streets to walk on to what he hoped would increase to saving Hybrids from wherever they were being taken.

Gavin had found him because he needed a safe place to stay in America for a few weeks, at most, because he was having a few legal troubles in England. They were beginning to round up Hybrids, letting them out of wherever they took them after a couple of days, but Gavin caught whispers that they were being tracked constantly.

He wasn't an idiot - not with stuff like this. His name was, no doubt, on the list they had to round up because he had been flinging his name around a bit with his cinematography skills. There wasn't much work for a Hybrid in the country, but Gavin had begun to build himself up through slow motion cameras, which not many knew how to do.

Someone would've obviously spilled his name somewhere. He had been keeping track of the population on his species, too, getting the numbers mostly through Dan, who had been able to work his way into the authorities as a 'double agent'.

He worked quickly to get into contact with someone. Unfortunately, there was no where in England. America, though, at the time was one of the safest areas for Hybrids because of the amount of contacts that works to keep them safe.

Burnie was his best shot. In no later than two days, he was able to get out of England and into America. Texas, specifically, where he later met Michael who had come in from New Jersey, and Ray from New York.

They didn't have to pay Burnie in money to keep themselves safe or get information, which would've worked for Gavin because he was rewarded quite a large sum of cash with his work anyway.

Burnie wanted contacts and information. Gavin repaid his debt through Dan, hooking them together and allowing Burnie to extend his first strings of support to England.

Gavin stayed with two other hybrids, Geoff Ramsey and Jack Pattillo, a ram and lion hybrid. Jack had been on the endangered list for a while, but protests broke out when it seemed obvious to the public that the authority weren't helping to improve the numbers.

It kept the authorities off everyone’s asses for a while. Then the media came in, deceiving the public into thinking that they were doing the right thing and then all of a sudden the public was now out for them - believing the endangered Hybrids really were safer in the hands of the authority.

The lions, though, were kept off the list.

Geoff created a smaller sub branch in the organisation, focusing more on actually getting inside these facilities and figuring out what happened in them. Burnie was able to focus his attention on helping other Hybrids across the country, and some even globally, and his organisation was quickly gaining a lot of support.

It was only because of this were they able to help many others, including Michael and Ray - who were the most memorable to Gavin, as they quickly wormed their way into the small trio Geoff, Jack and himself had formed.

Michael was getting into some trouble and just needed a few days to lay low. Ray was the same, except from a completely different area. They were only meant to stay a couple days.

A few months later, and they had yet to leave.

Ryan hadn’t been helped by the organisation. He had extended his hand first, offering just himself as a contact and then personally coming down to get to know Geoff to sort out some other information Gavin didn’t really know about. He never left, either.

Geoff and Jack, at first, were the only thing going. Gavin knew it - after staying with them for about a month, he had definitely seen and heard enough to know they were definitely, at least, banging. They confirmed it when Gavin eventually asked one night after the world had become a very fast spinning merry-go-round after a lot of drinks. Despite how drunk he was, he was able to remember the memory well enough.

Ryan and Michael were also definitely another thing on the sidelines. Gavin saw them, saw the gazes and the wandering hands and he knew. Except he also saw them extending something like that to Ray, and then to Geoff and Jack and he wondered just what the hell was going on.

Gavin had very little confidence with asking anything about the relationship they had going. The only confidence he could gain was from alcohol, except whenever he approached one of the others they brushed him off almost immediately and worked on distracting him. Geoff usually managed to persuade him to make some dumb bet with Michael, who always won.

It was only when he was sober one day, a headache pounding behind his eyes and his wings feeling like absolute shit - as they usually did in the molting period - with Geoff running his fingers carefully through Gavin’s feathers, did Gavin eventually bring it up.

“So, you and… The others,” Gavin had said, and Geoff’s fingers had paused.  
  
“Now you finally fucking ask,” Geoff mumbled, and Gavin had turned to him in confusion. Geoff gave him a sheepish look. “We were waiting to tell you when you asked, just not when you were completely drunk.”  
  
Gavin remembered pouting. “You’re always drunk.”  
  
“But I don’t get drunk to just gain the confidence to talk to someone,” Geoff had retaliated, and Gavin’s shoulders had dropped.

Geoff sighed, his fingers resuming their course. “You can act like… a wildcard when you’re smashed. We just wanted to see how you would react without your blood on the verge of like, alcohol poisoning.”

“You can talk,” Gavin had mumbled, childishly, folding his arms. Geoff rolled his eyes.

“So yeah, we’re a thing. Like, a five way banging thing,” Geoff had finally confirmed, and Gavin couldn’t help but feel disappointed because he wasn’t just the third wheel anymore, he was the goddamn sixth wheel.

“Alright,” Gavin had said, and then they sat there in silence for a while.

“But, y’know, we wouldn’t exactly be against, well, a sixth.”

Geoff had finally reached out, and Gavin took it. Geoff had explained that they hadn’t extended the offer earlier because Gavin was never a certainty, not with his life back in England, and for such a relationship to work they needed that, they needed a solid foundation for all of them to stand on.

Gavin got it to work. They all did. Eventually, they were solid enough that Gavin felt like someone could come along with some huge drill and it still wouldn’t even crack their foundation.

But then something did.

He remembers the moment when Jack had walked through the doorframe into their lounge room which they had been sprawled throughout, announcing the news that made Gavin’s heart sink.

“Gav’s on the endangered list,” Jack had said quietly, but they could all hear it clearly enough. 

Silence and stillness, like time had paused as the news sunk in.

When it did, the world burst back into action. Ray’s character on the screen died - a stupid, foolish mistake because he had missed the guy on the left, the guy that even Gavin could see - and he didn’t even complain. He just paused the game, turning to Jack.

Geoff got up first. He pushed Michael’s feet off his lap, standing and walking over to Jack to confirm the news. The brief look of shock that crossed his face was enough to make Gavin’s heart feel like it had just been bludgeoned.

He had been watching the numbers, knew they were going down and knew that the were being targeted on the markets for their high price - but he didn’t expect to be on the list so soon. They were cutting their numbers down so, so quickly, even with the attempted help of Burnie.

Ryan let out a heavy sigh, then rolled back his shoulders and looked directly at Gavin from where he was across the room.

“You alright?” Ryan had mouthed, and Gavin realised just how dry his lips had gotten. He ran his tongue over them and then nodded.

He expected it, he knew he was a target - but he had just been upgraded, and now there was definitely a higher price on his head and it would be dangerous to even walk about in their area, one of the damn safest in the country.

It was just getting so bad now. They were in one of the safest areas thanks to their connections, but yet they all knew immediately just how dangerous it would be for Gavin to walk around - not many knew of his wings, he kept them bound down in public, but they could never know who might know something.

“Fuck,” Michael had said, nearly close to a yell, and Gavin could see the anger radiating off him. His ears were almost pointing right back and his tail was swaying side to side in agitation.

“Calm down, Grumpy Cat,” Geoff had said, walking over to him. He flashed a grin, his head gesturing to Jack.

“Let me tell you, I know all about this shit,” Geoff continued, “And a fucking lion hybrid is not fucking easy. Gav, covered by fucking five of us and Burnie will be fucking easy.”

Gavin could see it, though, could see the tenseness in Geoff’s shoulders. They were worried, anxious and just generally pissed off because now they were possibly on the radar of the authorities.

All thanks to him.

Geoff went to calling his contacts, and Jack went on to call Burnie. Ray sat down beside Gavin without a word, just continued to resume his game. His presence was a comfort.

They were fine for a few months - Gavin kept his head and wings down, and they all looked out for him, despite Gavin’s multiple attempts at telling them they shouldn’t bother because he was just trouble, they should just leave him - but of course, they hear none of it. But they’re doing fine for a while.

And then, Burnie goes missing.

Jack works on calling Matt. Geoff works on Gus. But neither are picking up their calls - the lines too busy because without Burnie, there’s already an overflow of people trying to connect and they can’t keep up because they don’t know what’s happened.

The others work on packing up and getting rid of any traces. Just in case the worst happens, just in case they're compromised.

Just in case.

Gavin picks up some of the stray feathers lying around on the floor. At least he's not moulting, because then it would be almost impossible to clean his trace. It was really only a small blessing though.

Finally, Geoff gets through. He had started his calls sitting on a chair, but was now currently somehow balancing on the top of it, rocking back and forth in impatience.

"Fucking finally," he mumbles after making a loud series of groaning noises.

They all pause in their work, turning to Geoff expectantly. Jack's still trying to get through, but it's clear he's hitting dead ends.

"What's fucking going on?" Geoff demands, and the noise on the end is too muffled for Gavin to make out. He's not even sure if he's actually talking to Gus.

"I'm Geoff Ramsey, idiot, I knew the second he fucking dropped off the map. We all got each other on radar, the second something happens we fucking know about it. Now fucking connect me to Gus or I'm goi- Thank you." His voice is quiet, but his tone has taken on a controlled and cold front. It's a voice he rarely ever uses - only when he's truly pissed, when he's focused on a task and something is stopping him.

They're all holding their breath. Ryan's on his laptop - which he was before - except now Gavin can see, in the corner of his eyes, that he's on the organisation site looking at safehouses. It's an area on the site very few can access - only the truly trusted in the organisation can get to it.

"Where's Burnie?" Geoff immediately demands, when it seems he's connected through, cutting through their silence.

The response Geoff gets is obviously not the response he wants. He jumps from his carefully balanced position on the chair, beginning to pace on the floorboards. Usually, Gavin would take the opportunity to screw with him - especially on calls where he was placed on hold for an hour - but he knows that this is definitely not the time.

Geoff runs a hand over his face. Even throws back his head and groans at the sky a few times, and Gavin knows they're in a much worse position than what he originally thought.

It seems like a long process, so they all go back to their routine of cleaning up any traces. The only sound is the one of Geoff talking on the phone and the others shuffling about. Otherwise, it's as still and as silent as they have possibly ever been.

Eventually, Geoff puts the phone out in front of his and puts it on speaker. They crowd around it, listening carefully to Gus who is speaking quickly and quietly.

"Look, I can't say much. We are currently just going through routine. We'll keep in touch. Stay safe, assholes," is all Gus says before he hangs up.

Dread creeps in. 'Going through routine' was definitely not what was happening - it was a sly slip of code words, basically telling them to get the hell out and hide off the radar because the organisation was possibly infiltrated. Phone lines or any other connections were at risk.

When the organisation was safe again, they'd get in touch. For now, it was apparently best to drop completely off the map.

"We kept getting disconnected," Geoff admits. "Like, that was the most amount of words he was able to say before that annoying fucking beep cut through."

"Nothing on Burnie?" Ryan asks, and Geoff shakes his head.

"He's alive, but that's the best they got," he answers, and Gavin feels the pit in his stomach expand, because maybe he's alive but he's missing and they can't find him and Christ, if Burnie is able to be caught the they're all doomed, aren't they?

"Fuck," Michael says, at first a mumble and then he gets louder. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."

Ray places a hand on his arm, stopping him from potentially hitting something.

They're not even going to entertain the idea that maybe, just maybe they're safe, that they haven't been discovered in the infiltration. It's too much of an uncertainty, too great of a chance that they could be discovered.

They're better off doing as Gus suggested - dropping off the map completely for a while. And they have to do it as soon as possible.

“We’re getting out of here, then,” Jack says, calm as ever and Gavin finds comfort in that because it helps in calming the whirlwind of thoughts in his mind.

“Yeah, and where are we going?” Michael asks, the edge in his voice giving away just how nervous he is - and Gavin knows that feeling too well, because just after he thought they were safe, just after he thought he’d be just bloody left alone, Burnie’s just up and disappeared and the organisation is under a huge danger and bloody hell he is such a fool for believing he was safe for even a second.

There’s silence at Michael’s outburst. Most of their safehouses are registered with the organisation so there’s nowhere for them to go

“We are up shit creek without a fucking paddle,” Michael continues, but he’s covered any trace of nerves with anger.   
  
“Actually,” Jack says, and they all turn their heads to him as he stares thoughtfully at the table. “I built a place a while ago, just before I joined the organisation. I didn’t register it, just in case something happened.”  
  
“Where is it?” Ray narrows his eyes slightly - not suspicious of Jack, but the possibility that it’s somehow on the radar, and Gavin can’t help but feel the same because maybe Burnie did log it in, maybe they’re just as screwed there. There’s always a possibility.   
  
Jack looks at Ryan. “Did you check on the safehouses?” Jack asks him, gesturing to the laptop.  
  
“Yeah,” Ryan replies, then seems to catch on because his eyes light up, ever so slightly, but Gavin quells the spark of hope blossoming through. They weren’t safe, they weren’t ever safe and Gavin is not going to delude himself into thinking he is again.  
  
“Was there a small house just a few hours out? Middle of the woods?"  
  
Ryan’s eyebrows raise slightly. “I, uh, don’t think so.”  
  
Jack turns to Ray, who just shrugs. “Look, if it’s not coming up on the radar then I’m all for it,” Ray affirms. “However, there’s always the chance that it’s already been located and we have to have a plan for that.”

They all nod, but no one comes forth with ideas for a while. They’ve gotten the bags packed, and Jack and Michael are hauling them into the two cars as the rest work as quickly as they can to remove as much evidence or DNA they can.

Gavin works on binding down his wings. It’s one of the most painful and uncomfortable things to do, but it’ll make their lives all a hell of a lot easier if anyone questions them. Thankfully, it’s chilly and bitter weather outside, which means he can get away with a large hoodie. 

They’re in the car in less than 45 minutes. It’s definitely not their best time, but because the authorities aren’t at least directly gunning for them - not yet - and are rather just looking around, it means they get the advantage.  
  
Gavin, Geoff and Michael are in one car with Geoff driving. The other three are in a car with Ryan driving, sticking behind them. They keep each other updated with texts, but so far it seems like no one is following them.

Geoff begins to hum a tune, tapping his fingers methodically on the steering wheel to a beat only he’s hearing. They’ve put the radio on the ‘old people news’ station, trying to keep up in events in case anything happens, which means that Geoff definitely isn’t humming along to any music on the radio. Michael joins in on the humming from the front seat, but Gavin sits in silence because the tune is one he doesn’t know.

At one point he falls asleep, his head resting on his spare coat on the seat with his limbs spilled everywhere over the other backseats. He groans into consciousness, the stiffness and soreness all over his body becoming the first thing to make itself known to him.

“You finally awake my Boi?” Michael asks, and Gavin has to sit up in the darkness that has now surrounded him. There’s a blurry light coming from the front, and he blinks his eyes to focus through their tired haze and he notices it’s Michael’s phone.

It’s late at night, and the only light he can see is Michael’s phone and the car headlights. There’s no streetlights, which means they’re probably well off the main roads and hidden somewhere in bushland or something of the sorts, if the trees going by - illuminated by the headlights - are any indication.  
  
“Mhm,” he grumbles, the attempt at words failing. He clears his throat to try again. “Where are we at?”  
  
“Probably Australia, at this point,” Geoff sighs. “You’ve been out a few hours, nothing from Gus or anyone. The site has been shut down, but I say give them an hour and it’ll be right back up.”  
  
Gavin nods, shifting uncomfortably in his seat to try and get rid of the pins and needles starting to develop in his limbs.   
  
“Jack’s driving now, and they’re leading the way. We think we had someone tailing us, but eventually we shook the assholes. Took fucking forever, though.” Geoff grits out the end part, and Gavin can only marvel at how he managed to sleep through that, because Geoff trying to shake someone was like him playing Grand Theft Auto in real life; dangerous, full of swearing and absolutely the funniest thing.  
  
“Like, two hours, which has slowed us right the fuck down. I think we’re in the clear though,” Michael elaborates, and Gavin just nods. He stretches his arms, slightly irritable that he can’t stretch out his wings that feel cramped and all sorts of terrible.

“Anything on Burnie?” Gavin asks, immediately regretting it when both Michael and Geoff tense up, a cold silence filling the space for a few moments.

“He’s fine,” Geoff promises. “We haven’t got anything on anyone right now except for us six, all contact with everyone is down, and it will be for a while.”

And Gavin wants to argue because if they’ve got no contact then how the hell do they know Burnie is fine, how do they know any of them are fine and Jesus Christ this is all a mess, and it’s all his bloody fault they’re leaving, and they’re not on any kind of damn wanted list and they’re only moving because of him, he’s placing all of them in danger because he’s the one everyone wants.

He keeps quiet while the storm inside his mind continues. The others have worked on trying to get those kind of thoughts out of his head for a while now - and he’s getting better, he is, except they’ve lost Burnie and they’ve lost contact with the others and it’s all just going to complete and utter shit. He just can’t help the thoughts that put him to blame for all of it.

They keep driving for a while - and Gavin’s quite convinced Jack is absolutely lost, going around in circles because seriously he’s pretty sure they’ve passed that damn tree before and they absolutely just made a fourth right in a row - until eventually they roll to a stop in a clearing.

The other car turns off, and the three hop out with their bags. Ray manages to nearly trip himself up when he gets out of the car, causing Michael to laugh so hard that when he gets out the car himself he does the exact same thing.  
  
Geoff sighs at them, shutting the car door quietly behind him as he steps on the ground. Gavin barely manages to stay upright himself - his legs still feel all tingly, and his balance is never quite right when his wings are bound down.

They grab the bags and set off in a group.

Jack leads them through the trees, using his phone as a torchlight. They eventually get onto a dirt track, the trees creating a canopy above them. It’s reminding Gavin of many horror type games set in forests, and a shiver runs down his spine. At this point, he wouldn’t be all that surprised if Slender appeared.  
  
“Well, this is fucking creepy,” Michael mumbles from beside Gavin. They’ve managed to form a circle around Gavin - Jack in the front, Michael and Ryan to his sides, Geoff and Ray - as Michael put it - ‘taking it from behind.’

“Must be Ryan’s natural habitat,” Ray responds in his own quieter mumble, and Gavin cracks a smile.

“Hey, hey,” Ryan defends himself, in the tone of voice that makes Gavin usually want to push for a playful argument. “There’s no cows around here.”

“Probably cause you buried them in a fucking hole,” Michael counters, making Ryan shrug.   
  
“The fucking three of you will be a in a fucking hole if you don’t shut up,” Geoff warns them.  
  
“Look, I’m just defendi-” Ryan begins, but Geoff stops him.  
  
“Shut the fuck up,” Geoff cuts off, but there’s no actual heat to it. Gavin can tell he just wants as much silence as possible to listen out for any danger.   
  
Eventually, after Gavin is once again convinced they’re absolutely lost, even if they are following the trail, they reach another clearing. This one has a small house in the middle of it, covered well by the surrounding trees. It’s made of wood, and it's quite small, but it looks safe enough.

Ray begins to hum in thought. “Off to see grandma,” he says, and Gavin turns to look at him in confusion.

“You know, Little Red Riding Hood?” Ray prompts, and Gavin laughs.

“Grandma’s going to eat us, then?” Gavin asks, and Ray shoots him a smile.

“Nah, probably just Dan in there, hovering about like some protective guardian angel,” Ray replies as they approach the house. A twig snaps under Gavin’s feet and he can’t help but tense up in anticipation of something going to attack them. 

“Here to protect Gavvy from the real big bad wolves,” Michael mutters sarcastically.   
  
“I’m pretty sure you’ve all got that job covered,” Gavin points out, right as they reach the front door of the house.  
  
“Looking after your ass is like a ten person job though,” Jack pipes in, fiddling about with some keys before jamming one into the lock and slowly pushing open the door.

They all cringe with the creaking, looking around to make sure they haven’t alerted something to their presence.

Jack flicks on the light, and Ryan whistles in appreciation.

“You got electricity all the way out here?” Ryan asks, already moving to look around. They’ve all pushed in front of Gavin, surveying the area to make sure it’s clear. They keep up the conversation - anything in here would already know about them, and it’s a good way to keep tabs on each other.  
  
“Yeah, I managed to connect it to the mai-” Jack’s voice trails off as he walks into another room, Ryan following not far behind to hear his explanation.   
  
“You got hot water?” Michael hollers out from one end of the house - which isn’t all that far, considering how small it is, two small bedrooms and one bathroom and the common room with a small kitchen behind it.   
  
“Yeah,” Jacks answers, and Gavin can almost hear Michael sigh in relief.  
  
“Jack, I fucking love you,” Michael responds. It’s no surprise - Michael and Jack absolutely hog the hot water in the morning, craving any source of warmth they can get. Michael’s already called the first shower, and it’s not long until Gavin hears the running of the water.  
  
Gavin sits down on the couch, which has that certain old furniture smell to it. There’s an old TV set in front of him, but he’s already sat down and fatigue has begun to set in. His back doesn’t touch the couch - his wings are too sore to have any kind of pressure on them, so he keeps himself hunched over at an odd angle which probably just damages his back more.

He gets lost in thought quite easily. The area isn’t like the one they just got away from - it’s quiet, there’s no cars or engines or any of that city stuff. It’s only insects and their feet hitting the wooden panels as they walk and their tired banter. It doesn’t help with drowning out his thoughts quite like the city does.

They shouldn’t even be out here - his boys should be back in the city, playing some video game that Michael likes, because it is his night to choose the games. Enjoying hot pizza and eventually curling up on their couch that didn’t smell like dust. But they’re here for him, giving away all that just to keep him safe.

It’s like two sides beginning to battle in his chest. One is a warm feeling, because his boys are willing to give their comfort up for him, because they love and protect him and are just willing to risk it all for his ass. The other side is a cold steel twisting and curling, its rough edges digging like daggers through his ribs because he isn’t worth it, it’s his fault they’re out here and they probably just feel forced to do it because protecting the hunted was in their job, right? He was only a job, a mission. He had to be. 

He knows how the others would react to his self-doubt. Ryan would stay up with him on the couch, running his fingers across Gavin’s feathers gently late at night when all the others were in bed and Gavin had left it because his thoughts had just become too much. Geoff and Michael would possibly tackle him, calling him all sorts of names and then doing something to make him laugh like tickling him or placing gentle nibbling kisses all down his neck, making him squirm. 

He feels a phantom of a tickle run down his neck and smiles slightly. Ray would assure him over his self doubt with a straight up “you’re a fucking dumbass” and then throw a controller into his lap and start up a round of one of Gavin’s favourite games. Jack would sit behind Gavin while he was playing, running his hands through Gavin’s wings and fixing up his feathers until he fell asleep, then move him to the bedroom and place him on the best spot in the bed, between all the others.

And he can’t help but hate that he knows all of this - knows exactly what they’d do in that situation because they’ve done it too many times, too many times where Gavin just can’t get his thoughts to shut the hell up and he hates it because he knows, he bloody knows that his boys do it because they love him and yet he still has these periods of insecurity.

He barely notices Ryan walk into the room. He’s been caught in surprise - completely blank to the world, suddenly brought back by Ryan’s figure walking into his line of sight - and his first move would be to raise his wings threateningly. Except they’re bound down and he has to give himself a moment to calm down and remember what’s happening in the world around him.

Ryan smiles sheepishly at him, obviously noticing his alarm. “Sup,” he says, his voice soft and smooth and Gavin can feel the tension run from his shoulders at the word. Calm, he’s calm and he’s safe.

Gavin shuffles over on the couch, and Ryan takes the invitation, sitting to his left. He sighs heavily, stretching out his arms. 

“Jack’s in the shower now, figured you might want the next one?” Ryan asks, turning to him.   
  
“Yeah, yeah thanks,” he replies, because he needs to feel that warm water running down his back and massaging the tension out of his back and to get the dirt out of his feathers and hair.   
  
“Who’s after me?” he then asks, already feeling the urge to just take off his shirt and the binder holding his wings down. But he'll keep them on as long as he can because they still don't know, anything can get them to get up and leave in a second and he can't settle, not yet.   
  
“Geoff,” Ryan answers. “Then Ray, then me.”

By the time Ryan probably gets to the shower, it would probably be past midnight - which probably suits the other man fine, because Gavin doubts he’d be getting to sleep anyway.

They sit in a comfortable silence, Ryan’s presence alone calming Gavin’s insecurity. It also makes him more itchy to get out of the bind, and he’s practically counting the seconds until the water turns off when Jack is finished, and he’s up immediately, already stripping off his shirt as he walks down the hallway.

“Save some hot water for me, dickhead,” Geoff says in passing, just walking out of the bedroom and into Gavin in the hallway. Gavin just sends him a cheeky grin, to which Geoff rolls his eyes at and sticks his middle fingers up.  
  
Of course he will, though, the least any of them deserve is some hot water. He steps into the bathroom, smiling at Jack who’s standing near the sink, trying to get rid of the thick fog on the mirror.   
  
“Are Geoff and Michael banging?” Jack asks, and Gavin startles a little at the sudden conversation.  
  
“I didn’t hear it. I’d say no,” Gavin replies, moving to take off his bind. Jack walks over, helping him carefully in removing it.  
  
“If you don’t hear them, then they’re definitely not,” Jack mutters. “I just heard them talking about how great it would be to do it in the middle of the fucking woods.”  
  
“Mention seeing snakes around and that’ll get Geoff right out of the mood,” Gavin replies, a cheeky tone lacing through because isn’t that just the perfect mental image. Jack seems to agree with a laugh.  
  
“Good idea,” Jack says, finally getting the bind off, and slowly Gavin’s wings uncurl. They are sore and stiff and he can’t wait to get in the shower to wash down some of the soreness.

Jack exits the room, and Gavin has no doubt Jack will mention the snakes just to freak Geoff out even if he’s not feeling Michael, or any of them, up. He turns on the water, letting out a deep exhale when he feels the water hit his arm.

He waits for it to warm up before stepping completely up and his knees feel like collapsing so he can just sit down in the warm stream of water and completely unwind. But he doesn’t have that time, so he settles for just washing his hair and getting as much of the dirt off him as possible.

It’s not a long shower, but it’s long enough to make him certainly feel refreshed after stepping onto the bath mat. He dries himself down as well as he can, but he still leaves drip marks everywhere from his feathers which just never dry properly.

Thankfully, Jack seems to have thought ahead. As soon as Gavin’s out of the bathroom, - Geoff passing him and telling him that “he better have fucking saved some hot water”, which he had - Jack is intersecting him in the hallway and gesturing him over near the room where the couch and TV are.

He gets Gavin to sit down on the floor, and he plugs in the hairdryer and runs it through Gavin’s feathers to help them dry. He absolutely loves the feeling of it, of the warm air drying his feathers, and he finds himself almost dozing off from his spot on the floor.

The others have crowded around while Geoff still showers, taking their place on the couch as Ryan scrolls through his laptop. Gavin doesn’t interact, too content in enjoying the dryer. They talk to him, though, keeping him updated. The site is back up, but no one in their contacts has posted anything about it - which was rather suspicious. The news calls it a siege - how the police managed to take total control over it.

Which is bullshit, because there was absolutely no bloody way they’d get control, not enough to truly endanger many and hand over every possible secret they have. The biggest secrets weren’t even stored online. However, the possibility that they have even gained the slightest degree of control is annoying enough.

Eventually, they file off into bed. Ryan stays out, apparently delaying his shower. Gavin’s wings are dry, and he's pretty sure that even though they dried a while before, Jack kept going because Gavin enjoyed it. He gets up and he gives Jack a quick kiss before sitting down next to Ryan.

“So, not joining the great six-way bang we’re about to have?” Gavin asks, jokingly because he’s pretty sure even Geoff is too tired to even think about shagging. Jack gets up, kisses Ryan and Gavin one more time before heading off to the bedroom.

“If I don’t join, it’s a five-way,” Ryan points out, and Gavin just groans and pokes him in the side.

“Ryan,” he prods, using the whiniest voice he has. “Don’t be lonely.”  
  
“I have literally hundreds of contacts on my phone,” Ryan argues.  
  
“Business contacts don’t count. Also, pretty sure that all the contacts are down for the days to come,” Gavin retorts, moving to stand up from the couch.

Ryan just shrugs. “I’m good out here, Gav,” he says, truthfully, and Gavin nods. He’d probably join them later, much later when even Gavin had managed to grab some sleep, as restless as it would be.

Gavin moves into the bed, tucking himself at the end and wrapping himself around Michael, who contained the most body warmth. It was like he had somehow managed to trap the warmth of the hot shower inside his bones, because he was warm enough that Gavin felt like he didn’t even need a blanket.

During the night, they whisper promises to him as they drift of slowly to sleep. That he was safe, that he was fine, that they were all okay and safe and fine and they would protect him. He replies to none of them, though, because the only thing he feels like he can say is “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” and he’s just too tired to do it, too tired for the lecture they would surely give him.

He wakes up pretty early in the morning. He blames it on the annoying bugs and birds outside that won't shut the hell up just because the sun is coming up.

 _Jesus Christ, at the way they're going it's almost like they haven't even seen the bloody sunrise plenty of goddamn times before_ , he thinks, but keeps it to himself just in case the others somehow are still asleep.

He is finally able to crack open his eyes, groaning as he realises it's ridiculously early and he immediately wants to roll back over and go to sleep, but he knows he's awake now and he may as well stay that way.

Michael, Ryan and Geoff are up and out of bed, and Gavin can hear them talking softly closeby. Ray's curled up next to Jack on the other side of the bed, leaving Gavin to suffer the early morning chill alone. A shiver runs down his spine, and even though his wings had made somewhat of a blanket in his sleep, it was still bitterly cold.

He slowly gets out of the bed, immediately regretting it as soon as the chill runs through the floorboards into his feet. The closest bag belongs to Geoff, and he searches through it until he finds a jacket which he quickly puts on over his thin t-shirt. He doesn't even mind his wings being bound down slightly from it, because it helps trap in some warmth. He throws on the pair of jeans he wore the day before.

Jack stirs slightly as Gavin walks past him to walk out the room, but he doesn't check to see if Jack is actually awake. He walks into the kitchen, finding Michael sitting on top of the counter with his legs folded and a cup of coffee in his hands. He's got a beanie covering his ears, but his tail is swishing lazily behind him. Gavin finds himself entranced in watching it for a bit, snapping out of it when Ryan presses a mug into his hands.

Gavin thanks him with a croaky voice. Ryan nods, picking up his own mug and taking a sip. It's too early and cold for any kind of conversation, and Gavin's pretty sure his brain hasn't even switched on.

Geoff puts down the mug that was at his lips when Gavin had walked in. He stares for a moment at Gavin, then his lips upturn in amusement. “Isn't that my jumper?” He asks, even though he knows the answer.

“Not right now, nope,” Gavin replies, and Geoff just shrugs before taking another sip of his drink. His brows furrow slightly, meaning he's obviously troubled about something but it's not something he wants to share.

Gavin doesn't push to know either. If it directly endangers all of them, he'd let them know immediately, and so Gavin doesn't see it as his concern to pry.

“Any news?” He eventually asks, but he's met with the same still silence. He sighs heavily, feeling his shoulders hunch over.

“Yo, what's u- Oh. Uh, should I just like... come back later? Leave a message?” Ray breaks their heavy silence, walking into the room and stopping at the doorframe after apparently picking up on their mood. His own ears are tucked into a beanie, which looks sort of ridiculous with the thin shirt and boxers he's got on.

Gavin lets him know. He's told to fuck off.

Jack gets up not long after, and they're all sort of awkwardly hovering around in the kitchen. Usually, between the six of them, there were rarely ever silences except Gavin can feel it, he knows that it's just all of them waiting for someone to announce their next move on the board, but it feels like he doesn't know how to play the game and so he keeps quiet.

The rest of them do too, trying to figure out where to place their move. Except Gavin's pretty sure none of them know how to play, either, and it's like a poker game because none of them are willing to admit it.

He's terrible at poker, so he does first. “I have no idea what the buggering hell we're meant to do now.”

The rest, as expected, cave. He's met with a chorus of agreements, all of them in the same boat of confusion.

Except, he notices, Geoff. The man has kept silent, just the worried furrow of his brow showing any sign of sign of communication. 

They all seem to realise it, turning to Geoff with raised eyebrows and expectations. Geoff notices, and a sheepish look crosses his face.  
  
“What’s going on?” Jack asks him, and Geoff suddenly has a guilty look cross his face.

“What? What is it?” Michael pushes on, apparently not having missed the guilty flash either.

Geoff sighs, long and heavy. He’s debating whether to tell them or not, and Gavin’s alright with waiting for him to decide. He just finishes the rest of his coffee, places it in the sink with the other mugs, and steps back into his spot.

Eventually, Geoff cracks. 

“I - I got a contact. A message from one,” he starts off, and suddenly they’re all a lot more interested. “It didn’t say the contact. Which is weird enough, right. But it’s definitely from the organisation.”  
  
He pauses, running a hand over his chin thoughtfully. “But the thing is, it only had a picture. One of trees, and I’m pretty sure it’s right near where we parked the cars.”  
  
Gavin doesn’t doubt him. Geoff’s directional abilities seem to always be perfect outside in the more natural areas, so long as he knows his destination. The others all immediately gain worried looks on their faces, looking around like there was someone somehow inside or near them.

“I didn’t know what to make of it. I mean, the path to the cabin here is really confusing and quite hidden, even on the track line, so if they are near the cars we still have a fair bit of time,” Geoff explains, and Gavin’s heart is hammering in his chest.

“The organisation? Isn't that, y'know, taken over by the popo for now?” Ray pipes up, his tone light enough but Gavin can see the way he’s worriedly twisting his hands together.

“We're actually, well, not sure,” Ryan butts in for the answer. “I mean, the site  is back up and all but.. it’s a bit shady. And, a strange contact suddenly in his phone?”

“Well, they have had to use some other phone for back-up maybe. No connections or whatever,” Jack argues, but it’s a weak argument and they’re all thinking along the same line.  
  
“Yeah, but just the picture? That’s fucking weird,” Michael responds, and Jack nods in thought.  
  
“If someone’s hacking into a contact's phone then the picture won’t mean shit if they just send that. No one would know this area,” Geoff says, still obviously in thought. “Text could give it away.”  
  
“So what, we’re going to just confirm our location? We just got here, and if we move we might run into them on the way back. They could be waiting at the cars for us,” Gavin argues, and he can see it and he knows that it’s definitely a strong possibility. It’s one that possibly puts his boys in danger for him and he can’t let them do that.   
  
“And if we don’t move, they’re probably going to corner us in here anyway,” Ray argues back, and Gavin feels the cold metal in his stomach twisting again.   
  
_I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry._

“Damn it, let’s just vote,” Jack speaks up, silencing the bickering between them. “All those for staying?”

Gavin, Geoff, Ryan and Jack put up their hand. Ray and Michael sigh.  
  
“Looks like someone is getting kicked out of Team Lads,” Michael mumbles, loud enough for Gavin to hear. Ray smirks, winking at Gavin.  
  
“Don’t worry Gav, X-Ray and Vav forever,” Ray promises, and Gavin laughs and begins to sing their theme song they created.

“We should check it out, scour around to see who’s around,” Ryan suggests, to which they agree. 

“I’ll go,” Michael says immediately, which is a good choice because he can walk almost silently and he has a great sense of the presences around him. Geoff and Jack decide to join.

“Okay, you three hold it down here. If we’re not back in like, forty five minutes -” Geoff begins to say, Gavin cutting him off to attempt to finish his sentence.

“Come after you?” He asks hopefully, and Geoff just provides him with a dead look.

“No, you fucking idiot,” Michael reprimands, jumping in for Geoff. “If we’re caught, they know about us, and they know you’re here and they’ll know you come looking. Under no circumstance do you look for us.” 

“But wha-” Gavin starts, and Geoff holds up a hand to stop him.  
  
“You can’t, bud. We’ll get out of there, we promise, but you have to stay here, okay? Promise me?” Geoff asks, almost close to pleading and Gavin huffs.  
  
“Whatever,” Gavin answers, and Geoff sighs. It’s as good as Geoff is going to get - Gavin can feel the metal twisting because the guilt is now intensifying, creating more spiked edges to jam through his ribs. They shouldn’t go out there, not alone, and if they go missing then it’s all on Gavin because they wouldn’t even be out here if it wasn’t for him, all these people want is Gavin and yet the boys are walking right in the crossfire.

The others set out quickly, brisk kisses exchanged and suddenly, all too quickly, they're out of the cabin and lost into the forest. Gavin wraps the jacket tighter, even as the sun begins to warm up the area.

"They'll be fine," Ryan says. Gavin believes him - off course they'll be okay, but it's the worry of the possibility that maybe they won't be, that maybe something will happen and that's on his head, that's on him.

"Pretty sure that even the popo would know not to fuck with them," Ray says, but then the metal spikes in his stomach twist and turn and he can't place why, he can't place why until suddenly Ryan's eyes widen and then Ray swears quietly and they're dragging him quickly back into the house.

"Fuck, _fuck_ ," Ryan's basically chanting the word, anger and panic coming off him in almost visible waves as he rifles through their bags, trying to find whatever it is he's looking for.

"They're coming to fuck with us," Ray mutters angrily, "God, we're fucking idiots, we should have just fucking left before."

Gavin knows he's not angry at them though. He's angry at the assholes hunting them down, splitting them up and getting away with fooling them.

"Come on," Ryan says, after grabbing a small bag. "We can come back and get our shit, we just need to move out of here."

He pulls out a small device, pressing the button on it and they all wince. It's a high pitch ringing, someone only Hybrids can pick up on - and it'll attract both the other boys and the guys hunting them down - and then suddenly Ryan is pushing him and Ray out the back door.

"We'll meet up later, I'll divert them. Hopefully they'll follow me," Ryan says quickly, already moving back inside as Ray pulls him along.

"There's no bloody logic in that!" Gavin whispers harshly to Ray. "Why would they fall for that? That's the _dumbest_ idea I've ever goddamn heard!"

"Because we have to assume these guys don't think logically. That they'll just follow anything that makes noise. That signal will also hopefully screw with any of their hearing, because I have no doubt they have Hybrids on their team, and it'll distract them from us," Ray explains, but it doesn't help with settling his stomach because surely they wouldn't fall for it, and now they're just split up and lost in these stupid trees and all of them have probably just risked their goddamn lives for him.

Ray has a bag on his back which Gavin can hear sloshing with water. It was one of their 'survival' packs, filled with water and some non perishable food and for some reason his mind trails onto the thought that there's probably crackers in there, which were right near the water and if that leaked somehow and then suddenly there's soggy wet crackers in there.

He gags at the thought, which only helps with thinking of wet bread, and Ray shoots him a look between amusement and confusion.

"Gav, what the fuck?" He asks, taking the moment for them to stop from their sprint and places his hands on his knees, panting.

"Soggy crackers," Gavin explains, gagging once again at saying it aloud and he hears Ray sigh.

"Dude, are you fucking serious," Ray gasps between breaths, and Gavin's isn't much better because the air is still crisp and cold and it seizes his lungs, shortening his breath and he's not used to bloody running like that, he's used to flying.

But that's never an option, even with the trees covering a good level. They have found out the hard way that there's scanners, checking specifically for objects larger than birds hovering above the ground unnaturally. Which absolutely sucks.

Gavin does a double take of Ray.

"Wait, when the bloody hell did you have time to put on pants?" Because he's certain that Ray has been pretty much next to him the whole time, so the fact he somehow found time to put some warm clothes on is absolutely baffling.

"A good magician never reveals his secrets," Ray answers, straightening up and rolling up the sleeves of his jacket, sliding off his beanie as well to let his ears free. They move around, trying to detect any other source of noise.

They can barely hear the signal now, and it's slowly getting further.

"You're not a damn magician, Ray."

"Not with that kind of attitude."

"Oh for Go-" He's cut off from his exasperated sentence when Ray's ears suddenly flatten down behind him, which means he absolutely heard something that was definitely not good, and then suddenly Ray pushes him to the dirt floor.

He doesn't even question it, wouldn't even had time to because he hears the dart whistle above them, landing with a thud in the empty space Gavin was standing in moments before. But there's two, and Gavin pushes himself up to turn, to see where the second one landed. It hits its mark in Ray's shoulder.

Ray’s out before Gavin can even scramble up, a shout being caught in his throat because suddenly there’s something in his own left shoulder, and the world is suddenly spinning - like that time he lost control during mid-flight once, where he was tumbling and turning towards the earth.

The world goes black before he even lays back on the ground.

He wakes up because someone is patting his cheek.

It starts nice enough, nice enough that he’s pretty sure this person won’t mind if he just goes right back to sleep because his body feels like lead and he’s just too tired, too exhausted to wake up. Then it gets meaner, up until the point where Gavin is pretty sure the person might punch him right in the face if he doesn’t get up soon.

It is something Michael might threaten to do if he takes a while to come around. The thought wakes him up a bit - because, because he wasn’t with Michael, right? He was with Ryan, and then Ray and then. And then.

_What the hell happened?_

He can hear words, slurred words that sound so muffled they’re being spoken through a wall. He groans, trying to convey that this person needs to shut up because he wants to sleep, damnit, because this has to be a dream and he doesn’t like this dream so he’s going to go back to sleep inside his dream and dream of something else.

Except it’s not a dream, because his eyes are forced open by fingers and he blinks away the sudden onslaught of tears that begin to cloud into his eyes - they’re stinging, like Geoff just managed to get him right in the eyes with the body spray.

The person relents as Gavin begins to stir. He comes to with a continuous stretch of noise, grumbling and groaning as his limbs begin to tingle into awareness. They feel heavy and sore, like he just managed to run a damn marathon, and his senses all feel a bit dulled. He doesn’t doubt his mind is also being affected by the molasses currently washing over him.

Eventually, he’s able to clear his vision slightly. There’s someone sitting across from him, and he knows immediately it’s not one of his boys. What happened. What happened.

He wants to move, wants to kick and crawl away from this person, but his limbs won’t move and his head is pounding and he can only groan as a wave of pain pulses through him.

“Fucking hell,” he manages to get out, his stomach churning so badly he wonders if he’ll throw up. He’s not sure, he’s not sure and what’s happening, what’s going on, where the absolute fuck he is.

“You finally awake, Gav?” Someone asks, and Gavin’s heart lurches because he knows that voice, he knows it well and he can’t place it, his mind isn’t working that fast and frustration grows because he doesn’t know what’s going on.

Gavin just groans in response. He’s able to clear his sight even more, able to see in the dim light the horns and the outline of the hair and relief crashes over him like a tidal wave.

“You bastard,” Gavin mumbles, and he can’t place heat into it because he’s too tired, he’s too tired and he wants to sleep but it’s Burnie, Burnie’s here with him and Burnie’s alive and he’s okay. He’ll be okay because Burnie is okay, right?

“Yeah yeah, kill me later. If, you know, you can even move,” Burnie taunts, and Gavin sighs. He can’t help the relief at hearing his voice, though, because God he was worried and it’s like that twisted metal in his chest is slowly becoming blunter, less sharp and deadly.

“Shut up, you sod.” He doesn’t really have a better insult than that. Burnie laughs, quietly, and Gavin’s eyes narrow because he’s hushed, why is he goddamn hushed - he doesn’t want someone to hear, that’s why, but who doesn’t he want to hear? What’s bloody happening?

“This is what happened,” Burnie says, quietly and Gavin tries to focus on his voice, to try and ground himself because he can feel himself slowly drifting off.

This is what happened. The government managed to infiltrate the organisation. But they didn’t, because Burnie knew weeks before. He knew it was going to happen, didn’t warn anyone about it. Wanted to see it and deal with it himself.

So instead of risking someone else, Burnie used himself as a ‘spy’ to get into the authorities care. ‘Accidental’ slip up here and there, and suddenly oh no, he’s caught except he’s the only one - and he hasn’t warned anyone. There’s panic, but there’s order because Burnie knows what he’s doing, he’s in here to infiltrate the authorities.

Flip the tables. That was the plan, turn it right around on the authorities.  Except Gavin wasn’t meant to be caught, and wow doesn’t that just make Burnie’s life much more interesting. But he’ll complete the mission, he’ll stop them completely from ever gaining access into their organisation. He’ll ruin them from the inside out. Now he just has Gavin to help him. Or hinder him.

“You didn’t tell us,” Gavin tells him, feeling his fingers begin to tingle with almost painful pins and needles, and Burnie sighs.

“I didn’t have the time. Knew they were onto you, just hoped my disappearance would warn you to get out. You just didn’t get out quick enough,” Burnie mumbles, quiet and quick - Gavin barely catches it.

They’re being monitored. That has to explain Burnie’s quietness. Burnie was luckily able to pull some strings, he explains, managed to pull Gavin into his section when he found out the haul. But they’re both stuck under constant radar, under constant supervision and damn, isn’t that going to just be one hell of a bitch to get through.

"Where did you guys go?" Burnie asks, because the curiousity has to be bugging him, because for once it's something Burnie doesn't know.

"Out," Gavin replies, just to annoy him. Burnie sighs heavily.

He waits a few moments until he elaborates. "Out into the bloody woods, like some damn horror game. It was a few hours out too, and we were safe for the night."

And then he realises that Burnie doesn't know this place he's talking about, and it reassures him because it means Burnie didn't log it in, didn't pry into Jack's safehouses. He feels bad for ever thinking that Burnie might've done something like that.

He sees Burnie's shoulders tense, can see him frowning and his heart feels like it's about to burst from his chest. "What? What the bloody hell is it? Where are the others? Did they get Ray?"

Burnie takes a second.

"Haven't heard anything on Ray. The others aren't here as far as I know," he confirms, and Gavin feels his heart slow down. Safe, they were safe. They have to be safe.

But Burnie is hesitating to reveal something. Gavin doesn't care as much as he probably should, because his boys are safe, they're okay, they're not in the hands of the authority and that's all Gavin can find himself worrying about.

When it seems clear Gavin won't bring it up, Burnie does anyway. "Gav," he asks, quietly and gently like Gavin was a damn spooked animal, which only works in annoying him because he's not, he's absolutely goddamn fine as long as his boys are.

Dimly, he realises the clothes he’s wearing aren’t his own. He’s wearing a thin cotton grey t-shirt with loose track pants, which means that Geoff’s jacket is now in the hand of the authorities. That thought alone seriously irritates him.

"Mhm,” he responds, because there's another wave of exhaustion beginning to crash over him, and he can feel his blinks getting longer, almost on the brink of sleep.

"I went missing on Thursday, right? You got caught Friday," Burnie begins, and Gavin can feel lead dropping in his stomach because he has a feeling of where Burnie is going with this.

"It's Sunday night, about 8PM." There's something Gavin hasn't heard much in Burnie's tone, and it's irritation. Not just Gavin-fucked-up-again irritation, but the worried sort of irritation when something goes wrong and seriously endangers one of their lives and he gets very concerned. And there's something worse about the protective irritation over the frustrated irritation.

He can't even say anything in response, because the world has gone to black, and he's not sure when he laid down properly again, but he's finding that as an indication to just go immediately to sleep.

He comes to feeling groggy, like he just took one of the worst naps in his life. There's a headache assaulting his mind and his ears have a dull ringing resounding in them. It's easier getting up, at least, and he's able to sit up.

Except he's unbalanced, he can feel it immediately. There's something misplaced, there's something wrong and he realises what it is with a sickening twist in his stomach.

He can't feel his wings, he can't feel them on his back, and he whips around so fast to look behind him he's pretty sure every single joint possible in his neck cracks.

When he sees them, he is immediately both relieved and confused. Relieved, because they're there, they're still attached, but he can't feel them, can't feel their reassuring weight and he can't control them, they won't respond to him.

He stares at them blankly for a while, trying to will them to even twitch. They do nothing, just stretch out behind him, resting on the floor.

He goes to get up, except suddenly their weight is back and it feels like someone has attached a backpack of bricks to him. He still can't control them, and he lets out a frustrated noise because he can't even get up, he feels unbalanced and uneasy and what the hell have these bastards done to him?

Sitting up is the best he can do, but he can't move much further than that. He sits there, frustrated and confused. Burnie's not in the room, and that only makes him more worried and confused and he needs Burnie, right now, and he needs his wings to bloody respond to him.

He tries to get his wings to work right up until finally, finally Burnie returns, with two guards behind him. They're covered in full riot gear, teasers clipped at their belts and Gavin has a suspicion there's probably a gun hiding somewhere in their protective uniform.

There's about ten locks on the door. It's a heavy metal door, with only a small slip flap at about eye level.

Burnie is pushed in, nearly stacking it right over Gavin. The room isn't very big, barely enough for both of them to have a respectable bubble of personal space.

The guards shut the door almost impossibly quickly. It doesn't help with Gavin's unease, because the room is too small, but that doesn't even matter because he can't even move, can't get up from the shitty mattress beneath him.

“Gav? You okay?” Burnie asks, crouching beside Gavin.

He plays with his fingers for a few moments because he knows he isn’t, but he doesn’t want to say it, doesn’t want to admit it, to accept it.

It takes him a while to speak. Burnie has sat down, looking at Gavin in worry, but he waits until Gavin is ready to talk. 

He clears his throat. “I,” he hesitates, a lump forming in his throat, temporarily stopping his words. “Can’t feel my wings.”  
  
Burnie hums in thought. “Not unusual, you have a whole two days uncalled for. You were out of my reach then, I only just found out about you like midday through Saturday. It took me almost the rest of the day to actually pull enough resources to get you in here.”  
  
That doesn’t help settle Gavin’s stomach. A whole two days - that was a lot of damn time, and it was all uncalled for. He had memory of none it. And that worries him more than anything.

“I’ll try and find out what happened. But I used up most of my favours getting you out of the rehabilitation center into this more.. Well. Prison side,” Burnie explains. “Congratulations, you’re now a criminal.”

“You stopped me from getting laid and put me in a prison,” Gavin points out, except he knows he owes it to Burnie, because the thought of even being put in the rehabilitation center makes him want to sink into a hole in the ground. He won’t do that, he can’t do that - he’s ultimately glad he’s been branded as a criminal to get out of it.

“You’re welcome,” Burnie says, deadpan, but Gavin knows he’s saying it because Gavin does mean thank you, he does.

“Need help getting up?” Burnie asks, after a moment, but Gavin shakes his head.

“Didn’t realise how bloody heavy they are, it’ll be impossible for me to balance,” Gavin answers, and Burnie frowns slightly.

“No shit, they’re like a fucking mountain of feathers as well as muscle and bone. Like two dead-weight arms attached to your back.”

Gavin pulls a face. “Gross, I’m not a bloody spider.”

Burnie just smirks.

“I think,” Burnie says, quietly, and Gavin barely catches it despite Burnie leaning right in. “I think I saw Blaine, one of our members. Which means great, they’ve found us and are working to get on the inside, or terrible because it means he’s a double agent against us.”

“I’d say the first. It’s been two to three days, right? We have a lot of people now, it couldn’t be too hard to track us down.” He says it as quietly as he can, carefully watching the slat in the door to watch for any shadows. It’s dark, though, meaning it’s night sometime.

Burnie then reveals a container of food, sharing it with Gavin. It’s bland and tasteless, but it settles some of his empty stomach.

At one point, Burnie goes to move behind him and Gavin panics because he knows, he knows it’s Burnie but there’s a moment where he just forgets, where it’s a blind panic because there’s someone behind him and he can’t move his wings, he hasn’t got his usual protective defence and he’s vulnerable, someone behind him is dangerous, they’re dangerous.

Except his wings won’t respond and there’s just more panic because he can’t defend himself, doesn’t know why he can’t, and there’s someone behind him, for Christ’s sake, and he can’t even move.

“Gav, _Gav!_ ”

It breaks through his state of panic. He knows that voice, he knows that he’s safe and okay and Burnie is too and - and he was fine, it was just a moment of panic, something he hadn’t ever had before.

_Christ, what have they done to me?_

Burnie’s in front of him, realising his mistake of getting behind Gavin. He’s back to his crouch, a hesitant hand hovering between them and Gavin only gets more frustrated at himself because he bloody went to attack Burnie - would’ve if he could’ve. He would have blindly lashed out, possibly hurting him, and Burnie wasn’t even nervous about that. He was concerned, even cautious about Gavin’s personal space.

“You okay there buddy?” Burnie asks quietly, back to his hushed tone. And the buddy makes his stomach twist because Geoff would say that, Geoff always calls him buddy and he can’t handle thinking about them right now, because he’s worried and that won’t help his panic.

Gavin nods. 

“Sorry ‘bout that,” he mumbles. “Brain went a bit-”  
  
“Spaffy?” Burnie supplies, a comforting warm smile on his face that Gavin takes support in.

“Or gammy or gemmy or pissy or -” He begins to list off, trying to shake off his unease with humour. He’s good at that, he can do that. Roll it off his back, pretend it didn’t happen.

“Got it, thanks,” Burnie says, and he’s so relaxed, so calm even though Gavin just had a complete freakout. 

Burnie sits with him on the floor, Gavin eventually leaning in to his hand for support because he needs someone else, someone warm and comforting because he’s lonely, he realises, feeling almost empty without his five others.

Carefully, Burnie gets up and moves behind Gavin, making sure to just ramble off some nonsense. Some information he found. Some hybrids that had been put onto the endangered list, some taken off. Random guards that would work for your favour if you did something for them, like tip them off to help them get a promotion. Ambitious, but possible.

Burnie’s managed to build himself up so quickly that he already knows all the guards and what to do for a favour. That was over almost only three days.

They’re tired, both lying down on their mattress when a thought begins to plague Gavin’s mind. He speaks it out quietly, unnerved by the silence of their room.

“Am I just a mission?” He asks, his tone devoid of any emotion because it’s possible, isn’t it? That he’s just the mission, that getting close to him is all part of the mission and his boys did that, they succeeded in their mission of keeping him safe until recently.

Burnie throws something at him. Gavin disturbingly realises it’s a shoe.

“You’re a fucking idiot. Shut up, Gav,” Burnie commands, and there’s something hard in his tone too - maybe offence at the idea that Burnie would do such a thing to him, but Gavin’s known him to do it, to keep endangered hybrids safe. Any means necessary.

“They hate losing,” Gavin comments. “They’re losing, right now, with me being here. They began to lose when you disappear. But now, the authorities have them checkmated.”

“Optimistic,” Burnie mumbles.

“They won’t stand it, you pleb. Ray refuses to ever lose a game. Michael hates the game in general, but he doesn’t like to be defeated. Ryan is more of a quiet competitor at the beginning, but now that I reckon he’s losing he’ll fire up a bit more. Jack likes to try and not care about the game, but we all know he loves to win. And Geoff -”

“He won’t ever admit defeat,” Burnie finishes. Even if he is a mission, even if he is maybe just the game to the others, he knows they’ll get out of this. Because they won’t lose.

“We’ll get out of here,” Gavin promises him.

“We’re not getting out here simply because they can’t admit a loss, Gav. They’re going to get you, at least, out of here because they fucking love you. Don’t you see it, dumbass? They’ll walk to the ends of like, Hell for you, and all you’d have to do is ask,” Burnie counters, and Gavin knows he’s right - of course he is, and Gavin is annoyed at himself because he’s doubted them, doubted their love even if he still does believe it’s misplaced.

“They’re all donuts,” Gavin mutters, his voice beginning to get thick with sleepiness. “Idiots, plebs, assholes, bastards, absolute sausages, pricks.”

“Why?”  
  
“Because they shouldn’t goddamn love me, I’m just going to be a constant target and they’ll be targeted as well for it, won’t they? It’s useless, they’re better off just leaving me here.” His words are beginning to slur, blending together to the point Gavin wonders if Burnie will even understand.  
  
Burnie just throws the other shoe at him.

 

* * *

 

They’re being lead through the corridors of the building a few hours later.

They were woken abruptly, with harsh banging on the metal door resounding in their small room. It was absolutely the worst alarm clock, even worse than Michael’s Randy Newman’s one.

Barely standing - Burnie heavily supporting Gavin, keeping a hand on his lower back to steady him - the riot gear guards enter. There’s six, two hanging back by the door while the other four flank them. Two go behind Burnie, two behind Gavin, who wants to lash out and feels the panic rising again because they’re behind him while he’s still defenceless.

Quickly, though, they’re back at his sides and forcing the two of them apart. They’re careful of his wings, thankfully, and become mindful of his unbalance when he nearly tips right over the second they’re not supporting him.

They practically have to hold him up completely. They’ve locked at his elbows, and they pass in silence along all the other rooms in the corridor. Gavin can’t hear anything from them, it’s just their heavy footsteps along the floor.

Burnie is being lead behind him. Gavin can’t really move his head, but he can sort of see the two guards beside him.

They have helmets on, their visors tinted so darkly Gavin can’t even see any of their features - they’re just a black reflection, which unnerves him, so he focuses on the straight ahead.

He’s stopped in front of two other metal doors, except Gavin can’t help but think of those sort of typical American school cafeteria doors, with the small narrow glass windows showing them what was inside.

The doors are opened up, and they’re being pushed through. In the same second, they shut the door behind them and lock it.

There’s a lot of others in the room. Swarms of colours everywhere, features from their hybrid parts. There’s about fifty others, and Gavin finds himself sticking closely to Burnie, who’s keeping him upright.

Guards at every corner, security cameras everywhere, but Gavin has a feeling it’s the most free they’re going to get in the place.

“What’s going on here?” Gavin asks Burnie, who is also scanning around the room. But Gavin can tell immediately that Burnie already knows the room, is already familiar with it.

“Because we’re criminals, we’re now in a program that ‘helps us get back into society’. Basically, one big group session counselling,” Burnie explains, leading Gavin around to a table where no one else is. When Gavin sits, he almost immediately falls backwards, but manages to save himself and manoeuvre so that he can stay upright.

“This sucks anus,” Gavin says, mostly to himself. He can see it, can see the others and he knows, he knows they’re not criminals - except the small mouse hybrid guy by himself on a table, Gavin can tell by his shifting eyes and twitchy habits that he’s absolutely not good news - they’re just scared, lonely people who were forced out by society. And there was definitely no intention to ever put them back in.

It’s something he feels like the whole room relates to. One big group counselling session for literally the one problem between the fifty or so of them.

“I saw Lindsay,” Burnie eventually whispers to Gavin, after he surveys the room.

“She was your guard on the left. I think the guy on my right was one of our newer ones, maybe. Either way, there’s more from our organisation beginning to come in.”

Gavin tries to think back to his escorts, but the guard on the left looked like the exact same as the others. Although, when he thinks back to it, she did have a much firmer grip on him, like if he actually went down she'd at least manage to try and save him.

“So when do we make the run for it?” Gavin asks, looking closer at the guards in the room, but it's futile. They all look the exact same.

“Soon, we’ll get a signal.”

Except he doesn’t elaborate on that because suddenly there’s a man approaching them, escorted by two guards, with a clipboard in hand and and just looks like an absolute tosser, and it takes everything Gavin has not to sock him in the jaw.

Burnie handles it from there while Gavin is left to wonder what kind of signal it is. Maybe a guard hip-thrusting, maybe Soulja Boy playing over the speakers, maybe even just a banana appearing on their tray table for lunch.

It amuses him, but it makes him nostalgic for his boys. He wants to feel their comfort, their reassurance, their promises that they won’t ever let something like this happen again because it absolutely sucks knobs.

He hopes that whatever signal it is, that it arrives soon.

Eventually, the guy in the clipboard leaves. Burnie turns to him, elbows resting on the table and he's suddenly gained an aura of authority, of importance, and it's something Gavin doesn't see much - only when he was all business, no fun, which honestly Gavin gets bored with pretty quickly.

"He said they're planning a lockdown in a few hours, that it's nothing to worry about once we're back in our rooms. Refused to say anything more than that," he says, calm enough, but Gavin can tells he's frustrated because it's obviously not anything he's been informed of.

He's obviously, at this point, fed up with the surprises. Gavin can relate.

Gavin can feel someone watching them. He scans around, finding the guard staring at them beyond the visor. A frown begins on his face, about to alert Burnie to the guard, when they look away just as suddenly.

He decides to shrug it off - maybe the guard was just lost in thought or something and is embarrassed at being caught. It slips his mind easily enough as Burnie begins to go on about the lockdown.

“Might be a drill,” Burnie tries to reason.

“Yeah and it might not be,” Gavin counters.

“It’s probably not. I know they were planning to surround some of our area, which wouldn’t work obviously, but going into lockdown will halt those plans and I’m pretty sure they have little to no windows to work with.”

“So something’s riled ‘em up,” Gavin says, glancing at the guards like they’d show some sort of evidence of his claim.

“Or someone. We don’t know how long this lockdown will be, I’m assuming if our guys are going to get us out they only have a narrow window of about less than a couple hours.”

“What about these other people?” Gavin asks, his sight changing from the guards to the other prisoners.

“Another day. Soon,” Burnie promises. “We haven’t been able to get through this place, it’s like the biggest fucking guarded prison ever. It’s only because I got in that it allowed others of us to get in too.”

“A few hours is all we got?” Gavin asks, and Burnie nods.

“A few hours to shut down this place and make sure they get their fingers out of our fucking pies.”

The plan, in theory, goes like this: Burnie will go sneak out after Gavin, who can’t come because of his wings, creates a diversion. Like, falling over and retching all of a sudden - possibly from the thought of wet bread. Burnie will make his way into the command center, plugging in a USB that will upload a virus and hopefully wipe them from the organisation. They’ll meet up in time for the evacuation, once Gavin’s cleared from medical if he's admitted.

The plan, in practice, goes something more like this: Gavin is able to create a distraction, suddenly losing balance on his chair and falling right over on his wings, which hurts like an absolute bitch, and starts retching. Burnie calls over the guards, who flank Gavin quickly - which makes him panic, because he has another temporary loss of mind, where he just forgets what's happening and all he remembers is that he's vulnerable, surrounded and Burnie isn't here, Burnie's managed to get out of the room.

That triggers his memory. The plan, Burnie had to get out for the plan and this is all part of the plan. He calms down, but just in time to realise he's already lashed out and has managed to wind a guard, who's bent over and wheezing, and then suddenly there's a needle in his arm and the world goes dark.

He wakes up in the middle of a lockdown. He’s in what he assumes to be medical, strapped at the wrists to a hospital bed frame. He’s lying on his back, but his wings are readjusted in a way that doesn’t put pressure on them. With a wave of relief, he realises he can feel them again.

However, it’s a shortlasted wave. He securely strapped to the bed, his vision is all blurry, and there’s, what he assumes to be, a nurse of some sort at the door, looking at her clipboard. There’s a guard behind her, and Gavin has no doubt there’s more on the other side of the door but the window blinds have been closed and he can’t see outside.

He knows he’s in a lockdown because the nurse tells him so.

“Don’t worry,” she says. “It’s just a potential breach, but it will be sorted in a few hours. For now, though, you’ll be in here until the lockdown has finished.”

Gavin just nods as panic begins to fill him because it must mean Burnie didn’t make it, he was caught out and now he’s probably in trouble, and they’ve ruined their window for escape.

“As for you, the drugs hadn’t yet worn off, which is why your wings weren’t responding to you. We managed to counter the effects, but you’ll be drowsy for a while. As for your other episode, we’re running tests now,” the nurse says, stepping up to him and Gavin realises he knows this voice.

He knows her voice, he knows it and he frowns because he just can’t place it, but he knows it - he knows her. But his mind isn’t working and his vision isn’t clear enough yet to properly see her face. She’s wearing her hair up, glasses, and it’s on the tip of his bloody tongue.

“You,” she says, beckoning the guard over. “Undo his straps. I need to run some tests.”

The guard seems to hesitate, but walks over to him. Gavin holds his breath as he pulls out a small device and waves it over his thick bonds. They release, and Gavin cautiously moves his arms away from them.

“Thanks,” she says, and then he’s convulsing and then he’s suddenly down like a sack of potatoes. The nurse is behind him, something he can’t see clearly enough in her hand and a smirk on her face.

He blinks away the blurriness, finally seeing the woman’s features properly. She puts away the thing in her hand - a taser, he realises - and she starts to work on pulling out the needles in various parts of his body.

“Ashley,” he whispers in relief, because he finally, finally recognises her.

“Gavin,” she says back mockingly. “You got yourself into some trouble, didn’t you?”

“Mhm, have I ever mentioned what a wonderful love you are?” He asks, as charmingly as he can while vaguely realising he might have drool running down his chin.

He wipes it away with a grimace. She huffs, pulling out the final needle.

“No, but you can do so more. Come on, Aaron hopefully just took out the other guard guarding your door. If not, we’re screwed,” she explains, helping him up from the bed.

“Burnie?” Gavin asks, thinking the worst as they begin to walk to the door. His balance is back and he’s never felt so damn glad to have his wings.

“He’s fine, he uploaded the virus just in time. The lockdown wasn’t part of the original plan, but we have a few backups. You lashing out was not one, though, but that was easily fixed. The drugs they sedated you with should be wearing off.”

They are, thankfully, Gavin can feel the thick fog in his mind clearing considerably.

Ashley knocks on the door rapidly, until the guard opens it. The guard removes their helmet, and Aaron smirks at them.

“Good day,” he greets them, sliding the helmet back on. “We’re a bit behind, we have to move now.”

Ashley grabs Gavin’s wrist, both of them walking behind Aaron. There’s one other guard at the end of the hallway, who Aaron nods to as they pass through.

“Who was that?” Gavin asks quietly, and Ashley has a flicker of a smile appear.

“No one from ours, we just tipped them off,” Ashley explains, and they’re navigating through a series of hallways.

They’re stopped at an intersection by a group of guards. Ashley swears under her breath, and Gavin realises they’ve absolutely bollocksed the plan.

One of the guards steps up to them.

Aaron jumps in quickly. “Found these two wandering, was just about to escort them to the cells.”

“It’s a lockdown,” the guard that has stepped up to them points out, rather curtly and obviously not up for this kind of shit.

“And all prisoners are meant to be in their cells. Which is where I’m taking them,” Aaron reasons, determined and clearly not backing down. The other guard seems to sigh.

“The girl?” He asks, gesturing to Ashley.

Aaron doesn’t miss a beat. “Hybrid, decided to dress up and try and get out during the lockdown.” He shakes his head sadly.

The other guard nods, and Gavin almost breathes a sigh of relief.

“Well, I’ll have three others escort you. Then get back to your position,” the leader commands, pointing out three guards to do so.

Gavin sighs in frustration instead, being pushed forward by one of the guards. They were blown, and he managed to even get Ashley in trouble.

They walk up a flight of stairs, Gavin nearly face-planting it more than once. His mind still hasn’t completely cleared, and he misses a few steps as his mind clouds up for a moment.

When they reach the floor, there’s a metal door. Aaron pauses, and Gavin realises he needs a clearance pass for the door and he hasn’t got it.

One of the guards begins to hum, distorted slightly by the visor. Gavin still catches onto the tune, and there’s another spark of familiarity and then he realises why he recognises it - flashes of the car ride with Geoff and Michael - and shock plants him in place.

The tune stops, and then suddenly Aaron turns and punches one of the escorts apparently in the right spot, because he goes down easily enough. The one humming tackles another to the ground, knocking him out, and then teams up with Aaron to swiftly take down the final guard.

Gavin can’t help it. He launches himself at the humming guard, keeping him pinned on the floor and he clings tight to the fabric on the guard’s chest.

“Hey buddy,” they say, and Gavin is smiling so, so wide because he’s so goddamn relieved, so damn happy that he’s here.

Gavin removes the helmet and Geoff is smiling widely right back at him. He leans down, burrowing his head in between Geoff’s neck and shoulder, laughing in delirious disbelief.

Geoff is fake-groaning, complaining about him being too old for this shit, but Gavin doesn’t care, doesn’t move until Geoff eventually actually moves to get up.

He doesn’t let go, though, just climbs on Geoff’s back and takes comfort in the fact that he’s able to hold him, cling to him. Geoff just sighs heavily, but adjusts his grip so that he’s properly supporting Gavin.

Aaron has removed his helmet too. Ashley is just smiling, but she’s back to business soon enough.

“We have to go up another floor to meet the others at the checkpoint. Come on,” she orders, leading them up the stairs.

Geoff’s humming the tune again, and his fingers drum on Gavin’s legs, and Gavin begins to quietly hum it too. They’re up the stairs soon enough, faced with another metal door which Geoff scans to get them through. Gavin gets off his back, but sticks close to Geoff’s side.

Burnie’s on the other side of the door, addressing Miles and Kerry, and winks at him, but then Gavin’s eyes drift and he sees Ray and Jack standing together, leaning on the wall and talking quietly and worrying about something.

Gavin catches Jack’s eye, who does a quick scan of him before his shoulders drop in relief. Geoff helps him weave through the crowd of ‘guards’, coming up to Jack and Ray.

Jack immediately envelops him in a huge hug,Gavin’s face lost somewhere in his mane of a beard. Jack presses gentle kisses to the top of his hair.

Ray is complaining on the side. “What, no hug for the rabbit? Fucking racist. Rabbitist. I’m cuddlier than a lion.”

“I like your hugs, Ray,” Geoff pipes up.

“Thanks Geoff, best boss ever,” Ray replies sarcastically.

“I’ll fire you,” Geoff warns.

“No you won’t, my hugs are too good,” Ray points out, and Geoff just agrees.

Gavin pulls away from Jack reluctantly, then turns to Ray who’s got his arms folded petulantly.

“For the record,” Ray says, “I got shot for you.”

“I got shot anyway,” Gavin points out, shrugging.

“It’s the thought that counts,” Ray grins, then steps up and just straight up kisses him.

It’s definitely something Gavin has missed - in fact, he’s wondered how he’s even survived these past day with no contact from his boys. Granted, he was out for most of the days.

“Come on, time to get the fuck out of here,” Burnie orders at an almost shout, and they all cheer. The mission has been a success - the authorities have had their fingers absolutely buggered while being in their pies, and the organisation is safe as well as all of them.

They get out through a series of back doors and tipped-off guards. The four of them split off from the rest of the group, Jack leading them to a car parked a fair distance away. Inside, Ryan’s at the driver’s seat with one hand leaning outside the window while the other hand tapped that same rhythm away on the steering wheel. Michael’s in the front seat, popping some bubble gum.

When they see the four approaching, they get out of the car.

“My boi!” Michael cheers, jogging over with Ryan at his heels.

Michael clearly wants to tackle him, but Ryan holds him back. Ryan’s studying Gavin, his eyes quickly scanning over him before a wide grin appears.

Michael kisses him - which is much better than a tackle, Gavin must say, but then he puts him in a headlock and ruffles his hair affectionately.

He steps back so Ryan can greet him. He’s grinning, and just holds up a hand in a wave.

“Sup,” he greets, casually, and Gavin rolls his eyes and jumps onto his chest - and Ryan is just barely able to keep his balance.

They kiss, and Gavin feels the pit in his stomach filling in because they’re all here, they’re all alive and okay and the relief of that is almost crushing in itself.

They all climb into the car - Gavin sitting in Jack’s lap, as it’s only a five-seater - and they set off for home.

In the coming weeks the organisation will completely cut off the government. There’ll be no chance of any hybrids - much less Gavin - being in their hands again. They’ll dismantle the programs that hybrids are put in, they’ll make raids on the buildings that do hold hybrids and will all come out successful. It’ll take time, but it’ll be worth it.

Because Gavin knows - as he lays on the bed with the others all sprawled in it, cramming him in the middle while they all soak in the fact they’re all okay - that he’s protected, between the five of them and the organisation itself. That he’ll no longer have to look behind him constantly, have to hide his wings while he walks down streets. That he’s able to enjoy all of his time with his boys without being stressed or worried about an attack.

And that, to him, is worth whatever amount of time it takes.

**Author's Note:**

> This got so off-track from the prompt but I honestly rather liked seeing where it went. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this (and I'm so sorry it's been so long!)  
> All kudos, comments etc are very appreciated :)


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